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Turkmenistan
Historical Background
DURING MUCH OF ITS PAST, Turkmenistan has received little attention
from the outside world. Apart from its role in establishing the
Seljuk dynasty in the Middle East in the Middle Ages, for most
of its history this territory was not a coherent nation but a
geographically defined region of independent tribal groups and
other political entities. Like other republics of the former Soviet
Union, Turkmenistan has emerged on the world scene as a newly
independent country in need of both national and international
acceptance, security, and development.
Turkmenistan's authoritarian regime and regional social structure
have produced the most politically and economically stable of
the former Soviet republics. Although its leadership has gained
a reputation abroad for repression of political opposition, it
is perceived at home as promoting the social benefits, national
traditions, and security of the Turkmen people. In addition, to
ensure its national security and trade prospects, Turkmenistan
has charted an independent course in establishing a military alliance
with Russia and trade and security agreements with Iran and Central
Asian countries. In terms of natural assets, Turkmenistan is a
landlocked, desert country beneath whose surface lie substantial
deposits of oil and the fifth largest reserves of natural gas
in the world. Foreign investors, attracted by the republic's calm
and receptive atmosphere, have sidestepped human rights issues
on their way to establishing joint exploitation of Turkmenistan's
rich energy resources.
Data as of March 1996
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